


Core

by Doukz



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Frisk is gender neutral and unnamed, void, went from a quick oneshot and then I kept rambling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28291680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doukz/pseuds/Doukz
Summary: Reset, reset, reset, reset.No matter what they did, it always resulted in a reset. Neutral- they died. Genocide? Chara. Pacifist? Not too long after, the world would reset itself.Their knuckles whitened against their grip on the metal railing.This was their last ditch effort to stop the infinite cycle.What was at the bottom of the Core?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Core

**Author's Note:**

> I don't write all that often so it might be disjointed...  
> I also wrote this to take a break from another undertale fic because I couldn't figure out how I wanted to write Gaster...  
> but I had fun writing this so I hope you enjoy...  
> oooooooooooo....
> 
> (after rereading this I realized quite a few segments are rushed rip)

Ruins. Waterfall. Hotland. New Home.

Reset, reset, reset, reset. 

It didn’t matter.

They looked over the railing, knuckles white as they clenched the cold metal. 

They had tried everything. 

They had tried nothing. 

No matter what they did, it always resulted in a reset. Neutral- they died. Genocide? Chara. Pacifist? Not too long after, the world would reset itself. 

All of this talk from Flowey about control, yet they felt like the most helpless being in the Underground. 

For a long time they had just redone it all, befriended everyone, countless times they repeated dialogue. They tried explaining it, but eventually everyone forgot, and so they stopped explaining. Every angle they could come at they tried, until they got angry. Furious. They hit a monster out of frustration and it went down like a dummy. So then they kept doing it, just to keep themselves sane. It felt terrible at first, then it felt liberating, then it felt… nothing. 

They felt nothing now.

Conjuring memories of the surface, the child felt nothing for those dozens of happy-endings they made and lost. Not anger, or regret, just emptiness. Well wasted time, so to speak. 

Truthfully, the child had done everything. They went trash hunting with Alphys, explored the forests below Snowdin, and sat on one of the icecubes on its way to Hotland. They jumped off Snowdin’s cliff, jumped into Hotland’s magma, jumped ‘with’ Monster kid into the darkness of Waterfall (which was, at the end of the day, just a very deep hole with a lot of water at the bottom).

There was only one thing they hadn’t done, not really having thought it would be all that interesting and overall having forgotten about it among their other ‘jumps’. After all if you were going to conquer a fear and needed to face it head on, might as well make it scenic right? 

The human looked below them, contemplatively. They had been elusive this time around and managed to avoid encountering Alphys on their way to the Core, so there would be no frantic phone calls or killer robot specials. They figured Alphys was probably watching them from the security footage anyways though.

They got the idea from Gaster.

They thought that was his name anyways. The hallway had appeared for them six times so far, the door half that. Each time the amorphous blob in the middle had reacted slightly differently to their presence- which meant that it was an anomaly. New. _Maybe like them._

It existed outside of the constraints of this world, but… too far. Out of reach, literally speaking. Its image wasn’t even corporeal as it phased into nothingness each time the human had swiped a hand through it. They weren’t even sure it still had a soul. 

Still though, they knew it- or he, whichever, was sentient and not just recycling the same reaction. The first time they had come into the hall there had been no reaction, no sign of existence behind the blob. The second time, he eyed them when he phased out. The third time the child sat in the room for hours, not wanting this change of scenery to end. In that time the blob twitched every so often, and when the human finally interacted with it, he vanished with far less of a jump, staring at them- possibly glaring. Either way it was a revelation.

So of course more research had been poured into this ‘Gaster’ fellow. And what they found had them developing a hopeful yet delightfully terrifying theory.

What was at the bottom of the Core? 

Their grip on the metal railing tightened.

Other than magma, of course. The very bottom- the darkest pits of the Underground. Was it the void? Was it a space outside of the resets, like where this Gaster had managed? The child wanted nothing more than to place themselves out of the reach of the save stars and their resets. 

If they could reach that same place… would they be outside its influence? Or would their soul’s determination force them to live through another run? 

The hope and fear clashed. No more resets sounded beautiful, but no more resets meant no more… this. This life. It was terrible, but they had become so used to making one mistake and being able to take it back. A sentence, a hit, a kill- undone in a matter of a snap. 

Losing that power, if they even lived after their descent, was still daunting. So was the idea of simply dying while losing that power, something they didn’t entertain since there would be nothing to entertain afterwards.

The darkness seemed to beckon to them. The Core itself was beeping, alive, parts somewhere deep in the facility moving as monsters worked out puzzles, unbeknownst to the human trespassing. The bright colors beamed and parts of the trimming had fallen off revealing the red material in the wall, it was just a regular day. 

The child climbed over the railing, placing both feet on the other side overlooking the edge. They gripped the railing with such a tightness they thought they might slip when their hands began to sweat. 

Alphys no doubt saw this. Looking around, they spotted a camera in the corner of the room, and waved, letting the railing go. 

Into the darkness. 

The descent was… long. They stared at the ceiling as it shrunk, until it was swallowed up by the darkness. It was hard to feel fear after so long putting up with dying, but for once the human felt their soul skip beats and relished in the feeling. 

Every second they expected the impending force of the bottom of the Core. There was no way to see the ground, or lack thereof, rushing upwards to meet them. Only air rushing past their ears and the tingling in their soul kept them company.

After a minute of falling they came to the conclusion that there was no bottom, as even in Waterfall the endless darkness had come with the sharp crash of water at this point. 

The human felt their chest buzz with a familiar sensation as their soul emerged from their chest, illuminating their body with a red glow. 

  
No.

They grabbed at it frantically. 

NO.

The soul shook, shuddering, illuminating- resetting. 

**NO MORE RESETS.**

They grabbed and held their soul close, conjuring with all their being the refusal to reset. Their body felt like it was in two places at once, split between here in the void and the bed of flowers in the Ruins. 

Still, they clenched it tighter, trying to force it to stay. It was the only thing they could do. 

They felt themselves fall through something invisible that felt like a floor made of condensed air. Still though, they kept falling.

[SAVE FILE CORRUPTED.]

Within moments their fall felt as though it was slowing down as they began to laugh, absorbing their soul into their chest. Save file corrupted… that meant... their laughing grew louder. After some time they landed on a surface of nothingness. The impact was there but not felt, no pain, no sensation at all with the ‘floor’ actually when they pushed themselves onto their feet.

At the moment their sense of worry was gone- they were genuinely free, no more resets… unless it just meant that when the inevitable reset came, things wouldn’t be as they should. Which, to be fair, was an acceptable outcome for anything different. An uncontrolled variable like this was just what their end goal had been. 

The human walked for a long time on the invisible floor. It was certainly the void, that much they were certain. 

Somewhere in their mind they knew they should be worried or at least apprehensive. But this was something new- they hadn’t experienced something new in so long- and they had WON! They had won versus the world. It was hard to feel anything but giddy childish pride. 

They also decided they should get to work on getting back soon. If ‘Gaster’ had managed to break into or exist in the world enough to show up in an incorporeal form, then that meant there must be a loophole out there. The same went for his supposed followers, although their instances in the real world rather than a piece of space formed around them made the child assume Gaster had figured out more of the void than the others had. 

The problem was… how. Or where? They would find the key to interacting with the world. Since they weren’t dead they had their work cut out for them. After all insanity from an eternity of nothingness was probably worse than the one they had been facing already.

As long as they figured it out things should be fine- if they could fight their way back into the world without save power they would be fine. A true pacifist ending without being forced back before getting to see everyone settle in sounded… like it was too good to be true. Perhaps it still was.

After some unknown amount of time the human felt their breath hitch involuntarily. The void seemed to have dulled down physical sensations, but the familiar sensation from their lungs was a sure sign that was confirmed when they looked down.Their soul had left their body.

It still glowed a bright, strong determined red, the saturation reaching their body. They themselves had become rather colorless, but they didn’t dwell on it. If their soul had been forced out, that meant someone was at fault.

**“̸̻̪͛D̵͍͐E̷̞͐T̴̜̐̓Ḝ̷͠R̷̥̜̆M̵̜͋̈́I̵͚͝N̶̺͉̐͝A̷̟̤͗T̵̝̗̋̍Ĩ̶͖O̶̜͗N̶͉͒̕.̶̙͍̚”̷̧͋**

The voice sounded distant, close, echoed. It was contemplative and more like it was a comment made while observing their soul rather than simply stating a fact. Eyeing the nothingness they saw… well, nothing.

“Who… Are you Gaster?” they called out into the void. 

…

“I- I’m sure you know why I’m here.” They considered explaining themselves, but decided against it- surely Gaster would have seen the shit they had done in timelines, or at least had an idea after the child had managed to run into him three times despite how elusive the fake hallway was, even more so the door.

**“Yở̤͟ u̟̟͐̏ sĥ̺ o̽͢ u̯̅ld͓͙͒̾ n̢̍’̲̎ t̼̿ h a v̬̏e͌͟͢ d̲͌ o̺͈̅̏ñ͍ e͔̋͋͟ t h͉͌ a͓t͈.̥̳̃”̭̊**

“You mean jump into the core? Look, if you- if you were in my shoes you-”

**“W ou̘̍ l̦̙̈̓ d͉̄ h ã̙ ve f͇̲̄͋ o̮̊ u̼n͓̲̔͆ d̘͊ ạ̓n͉̝͞ o͖̩͠͠ t͖̓ h͎́ ę̖͂̈́ r͕͓͒͋ w͖̝̑̇ a̘̚ y.”̗̊ “** The disjointed voice made the human’s hairs stand on end. They couldn’t tell where he was actually at, if he was actually anywhere.

“I didn’t come here to argue! My save file is corrupted now, I won. And you- you managed to connect to the world again- so I think-”

Their soul returned to their chest. He was… gone? Unacceptable. The child was determined to talk to this monster and figure out how he’d manipulated the void, and they weren’t going to stop until they actually managed to do it. Infinite timelines had been exhausting, but it hadn’t curbed their determination.

It didn’t matter if it took them hours or days, or weeks.

Turns out it only took a few minutes for things to get weird(er).

The entirety of the void changed while they were walking. One instance in the nothingness, the next their foot was hitting something gray and there were walls, rocks littered around and texture not unlike the bricks of the Ruins and New Home. The child recognized this place as a part of the Ruins actually. Part of it anyways, as further down water broke up the bricks. 

They ran their hands along the bricks, feeling nothing. There was no sound, the child began to make small noises to themselves to counter the weirdly suffocating deafness. The water also felt like nothing. It didn’t seep into their pants when they dipped a foot in. Seeing as it was the only way forward, they stepped into the water, wading through the waist deep artificial liquid, pushing a few somehow floating bricks aside as they went.

It didn’t even seem to slow them down, the water existed, yet didn’t. 

The ground gave away beneath them and they fell below the water, scared for a moment of drowning but easing into breathing once they realized that it also wasn’t going to drown them. Other than obstructing their view it was harmless. They sunk further into the Ruins, walking forward.

Was this some sort of test? A means to slow them down? Did Gaster even do this? Either way, they went forward. Rocks more akin to Hotland began to show up, and eventually the ground became a ledge jutting out of bright white-gray magma beneath them. They were still underwater.

After a while of walking along the ledge it came to a dead end. There was some land farther down, but not within jumping distance.

Into the magma it was, then. Without hesitation they jumped down- their vision was abruptly overflowing with light and they had to clench their eyes shut as they fought to the surface. Fake magma was… hard to swim in, to say the least. 

Grabbing at the landmass with closed eyes they pulled themselves up, as soon as they opened their eyes they found themself in New Home. It was a hallway akin to the Ruins, but the uncracked brick and elevator along one of the walls was a sure sign of New Home. 

As they progressed through the hallway the bricks began to smooth out, until it was just a textureless wall. Everything was the same shade gray. Without any shadows it was hard to tell where the floor met with the wall, and frisk nearly ran into it at one point.

At the end of the hall was a door that only stood out from the hallway due to its form. 

Trying to grab the knob proved futile as their hand waved through it, similar to the projection of Gaster’s body. Trying a few more times yielded no results until they tried pushing and fell through it, stumbling to avoid falling over.

It was the same fake hallway room they had encountered before. In the middle was Gaster- or more so the projection of him. The child spent no time in approaching his form, the only difference from last time was that he was facing the back of the wall. 

They leaned in front of his face, though unsure if he was even looking at them from his incorporeal form. 

“Hello.” they stated curtly. 

After no response they continued. “Are you trying to keep me away with that?” 

The blob shifted, minimalistic face subtly tilting down at the human. He seemed to squint. 

**“̰̔Ÿ̮́o̪͋ u͈͋ dǒ̬͇̿ ń̢ o̹͝t̮͌ u̹͋ n̬͒d͓̜̿͘ e r s͍͔̄͞ t ȁ̹ n d̲͗ t͇͌ h͚͛ e̝̹̍͝ c̹̫͆̑ o͖n̡̊ s̲ q̤̭̋̍ u͔̾ē͈ n͕̍ c̩͘ e͖͌ s o̫̰̒͘ f̰̓ y̪͘ou r a̤̋ c̰̓ t́ͅi̗ ô͉͢͝n͍͋ ṡ͈͎̔.̡̠̂̓”͍̉**

  
  


The human’s hands clenched as they picked a spot against the wall. It felt like they might be here for a while. 

“Of course not! But I broke away from the timeline, didn’t I? That means everyone can stop resetting now. They get to move on with their lives.”

**“̛̘D̗̑ o̯̓ n͙͂ ỏ̭t͎̍** t͎̞̂̕wist̩̋ **_t̤̀w͍͔͖̾̊̒̈͟is̭̯͌̏͑͟t̡̛̖̩̩̥̠̤͈̀͌̌̑̍͠_** **t̻̲̐̂h i̡͋ s̢̿̕͜ i͙̾ n̽ͅ y̖̾ o̦͛ ủ̪̀͜ r̳̊ f a̺ v o̬͕͆ ŕ̮, h͉̠͊̕ u m ă̢̭̔ n͖͞.̭̍”̛̲**

Definitely might be here for a while. They slumped against the wall. 

“I know it wasn’t the most… selfless reason that drove me to this. But the end result helps everyone, right?” 

There was a long pause afterwards from the former royal scientist. The human was becoming less certain that he was even actually the projection in front of them. 

The long pause turned into simply a lack of an answer and the silence began to grow uncomfortable. The child still decided to wait for Gaster to speak up rather than continue making conversation themself. 

**“̫̔Ỵ͋ ó̺ u͎͘ a̙͒ r̙͎͋͠ ȩ̇ u̱̾ ṉ͌ s̨͑ a̝͊ f̮̾ e̛̦ ị̚ n̙̓ t h͓̑ e̹̋ v̭̔ ọ͂ i͖̬͋̌ ḑ͈͆̆.”̼͛** He spoke up suddenly, voice echoing in disjointed pitches around the room, possibly even from inside their head. 

“What do you mean…” their voice trailed off as their soul left their chest again. This time they grabbed at it as they felt the familiar hollow sensation. Something about feeling more hollow and lacking even more sensation… they really, really didn’t like it.

**“D ̰̔o̘͌ ͖͆ y o͔̍ u̬̅ ̞͡ ͓̒ ͖̉k̳ n͇̉ o͓̅ w̱͠ ͓͊ ̛͟ ͖̽w̧͐ wḥ͠ a̢͌ t̫͞ ̮̿ ̧͞ ̗̽Ỉ͢ ̧̑c ̟̓ ̆͜o ͉̊u͙̐ ̫̑l ͎̓d͔̔ ̬̓d o ͔̍ ̤̊ ͗͢w̏͟ ̯̈́i̫͗ t ͔͡h̟͠ ̟̓ ͎͂ ̝̽ t̯̼̆̎ ̞͛̄͜ ̟̈͛͢ ͖͖̄͒ĥ̢͕̄ ̞̱̀̀ ̨͇͝͠i͈̠̽̕ ̬͑͝ͅ ̡̖͊̇ ̩̪̊͌ṣ̥̈́̂ ͇̱̋̇ ̦̫̓̕ ̹̦͝ ͖̹̍͝?̑”**

At first they didn’t respond, glaring up at the blob as they held their soul to themself tightly. After it lingered for a while they mumbled quietly. “Give it back.” 

Their soul stayed for a moment before it flickered blue and sputtered in and out of existence not unlike tv static or glitching. It easily phased out of their arms. It didn’t go towards any particular direction but floated above them. 

**“W i̺͛ ṭ̕ ͖̇h̜ ̳̈́ ̲̃ ̋͢d͇̎ ě͉ t ̐͟ë̲́ r ͚ ̨̉m i̜͘ n̨̆ ͓̌a̦͒ t ̫͘i̺ o̼̐ n̲ ̟̋ ͔̂ Ḭ̿ ̼͝ ̂͟ c̪̃ ỏ̤u l̥͒ ̬̕d ̰̕ ̛̞f̼̂ ̖̐i̛͕ ̭̍n i s ͈̄h ͍̊ ͕̌ m y̠ ͘͟ ̺̓e ͚͡x̜͡ p ̭̒e r͈͞ ̭̎i̻̚ m ̖̂ḙ̔ ̘̓ ̲̏n͚̉ ̨̒ ̮̉ť͖.̊͟”͍̿**

A few moments lingered before he let out a sort of distorted sigh without actually physically sighing.

**“B ̡̒u ̣t̩͞ ̤̐ ̙̉ ͓̈t̜̊ ̦̔h ͇̚a͎͞ ͈̓ ̛̝t̖̔ i ͚͊š̠ ̛̠.̟̿ ͈̆. ̨̾.̥̽ ͍̄ ̝͡i̤͆ ͓͝ ͇͊m̨̋ p͇͛o ̨s ̜͌s̬̀ i͇̊ ̺͌b l̬̿ ̛͔e̩̓.͔̔”**

Their soul lowered within reach and the child wasted no time in absorbing it back into their being. As much as they now wanted to make space between themself and the blob, they knew it was just a projection and would do very little. Besides, they had come with a goal, and quitting now would only lead to insanity faster.

They were determined to see this to the end.

“Look, you… you’ve been here forever. You would know better than anyone...” the child, despite their instincts, pulled their soul out of their body again to examine their save file. They knew the data would be visible to Gaster from wherever he was really residing.

“What does this… corrupted save file mean?” They held their soul out hesitantly to the blob. “Don’t- don’t manipulate my soul this time. Or I’ll take it back.” 

The blob shifted, twitching as the child assumed Gaster took control of the more physical form. It took on a slightly more complex appearance, the blob shifting into something more akin to shoulders and the hands extending from the body actually connected by vantablack arms. 

His indefinite smile twitched as his hands were nearly able to touch the soul. So much power, but too much risk. Vague lights appeared in his sockets, one partially hidden by the deformed eye.

The data that appeared was fairly basic from the child’s point of view. Well, the important parts seemed basic, at least.

**CHILD LV 1 7͞ͅ8̻̄9̿͜3̲̍0:3̱͡I̪̋**

**?͉̱̒̐[_͔͂Q͎̹̓̒̚͜!͙̙̭̂̄͋ ̜̹̟̑͑̕**

**SAVE RESET**

Even the buttons seemed to be in their right spots, and if they ignored the lack of information on the time and place it seemed right. They knew the time would likely be messed up and there had been no determining if their save file could understand what the void even was.

“Reset is still there…” they commented while the monster observed the save file, eyelights flickering back and forth as though there were more there then they could see themself.

**“N̬̿ ̫̚o .̛͙ I ͉̚t̟͋ ̄͢‘ ̩͠ ̭͐ş ̀͟ ̟͠ ͔͘n̲͛ ̭͘o ̙͊t̻͘ ̱̄ ̦͠r̨͆ ͎̓e̡̿ ͓̓ ȁ͔ l̈́͜.̨̋”** Gaster echoed almost directly into their head, causing the child to shake it to get rid of the reverb. Not real? So what would happen if they pressed it? 

They reached out towards it. 

**“͖͗D̠̃ ̜̒o̥͂ ̖̚ ̦̀ ͎̊n̻̎ ̗͑ ́ͅŏ͕ ̱̐t̝̚.”**

  
  


“Why not?” That served them not much more than a crease in the face’s form as the eyelights flicked to them with an annoyed glare.

**“Y ̫̌o͙̔ ͇͊ u ̟͘ ͈̎w ̭̓o ͎̿u̙͠ ͖͒ l̻̐ d ͈̃ ̛̩ĺ̘ ̻̄ ̬̀ì͍ ͓̾k̺͗ e̤̚ l͇̚ ͙͗y ͎̚ ̰̅d ̗ e ͈̓s̰͠ t̬̑r ǒ̮ y ͕̂ ͓͐ y̧͐ ̻̔ o ̦͆u r ṡ͍e l̀͟ ̠̚f, ̖̏ i̮͊ ͔̋ ̡͒f ̼̏ ͔̂ ̹̌ ͈̄n ỏ̯ ̺͒t ̟̊ ̗̆t ̡͆h e̜͘ ̱̉ ̝̈e n̜̑ ͖̓ ̞̈́t͔̔ i ̘͐ r ̬̏e ͖̈́ ủ̘ ͎͠ņ͒ ̯̕ ̤̔ ̺͂d̠͡ ̣̓e ̜̾ȓ̝ g r̳͌ o ̺̏u ̢͂n͍̂ ͚͒ ̢͗d ̬̔ i̘̕ ̬̌ť̼ ̛̟ ̿͢s̘̈ e l̾͢ ̦͆f.̼̕”**

“Oh.”

Apparently content with the response, Gaster resumed reviewing the data file. The child wouldn’t deny that pressing the reset button was tempting, but not because they wanted to do it- just… childish impulse. It was quite annoying living for at least a year through repetitive harrowing circumstances and death yet still being prison to childish things like impulsiveness and a hunger for chocolate. If they had matured they certainly couldn’t see it. 

They could tell the monster had finished reading the code when the eyelights faded away into nothingness and the form became less solid, melting into a sort of shapeless blob again. 

“So... what does it mean?”

**“̱͑.̝́.͉͞.̳̽ ̫͐I ̼̓t ̺̈́ m̲̕ ̬͛ ̙͊e ̛̼a n s̳͞ ̭̕ ̧̈ ͈̀y̫̌ o̘͡ ̖̏u ̠͡ ͍̉ a ̫̓ r ͔̽e ̞͗ s t u c k͚͌ ̧̓ ̗̚h e͚͋ ̛̣r e . C ò̙ n͈̊ ͚͒g͕͡ r a ̛͢g ̖̐u l ̥̇a̱̽ ̠͡ ̥͗t̥͗ i͙͆ ̻͡o n ̲̍s.”**

The child faked a pout, huffing at the hard to read yet obviously sarcastic tone as they crossed their arms. “Gee, didn’t realize the great doctor Gaster was so fun.” 

The blob barely shifted as whatever Gaster really was finished leaving its host or form. 

**“I͚͗ ̥͌a̪ ̘͆m͓̽ b͇̓ a ̦͡ ȑ̭ ̝̂e l y̫͌ ă̖ ‘̽͜’ ̥d͚̿ ̲͊ ͚͛o̪͐ ̰͑ c ̥̍t͑͢ ̗͘o ͎͂ ̣͒r͕͂ ̢̐ ̦͋‘ ̳̄ ̩̑ă̮ ̹̃n ̥͋y ͕͆m ̦̕ô̲ ̪͝r ̳̽ȩ̚.”**

Only humming in response, the human got comfortable on the floor. They were certainly right- they would be here for a while. They felt a shift in the nonexistent air next to them, but otherwise nothing happened as they thought about their corrupted save file and whatever it meant that Gaster had decided not to go into detail about. Certainly there was more to it than ‘stuck here’. After a while they let out a defeated sigh and returned their soul to their body; leaning into the wall with a grimace. The lack of sensation felt so wrong.

Even though a good chunk of time had passed as they collected their thoughts, they knew Gaster was still here. It wasn’t like he’d have anywhere else to be anyways. 

“So how do you do it?” 

A static shift in the air, something akin to either confirming his presence or a questioning sound they figured.

“The room. How did you connect this room to Waterfall?” 

They felt the same shift beside them- was that Gaster? 

**“̥͋..͕̔. T͆͢ ͂͢h i͌͢ ̬͘s ̠̅ ̇ͅ ̮͝ ̖̅i̻̇ ̧̇s ͊͜ w h ͖̍ y͖ ̺̓ y̰͗ ̞̎o̙͘ u ͍̚s͈̾ e ̖̆a r͔̽ c͚͊ h̯̄ ̤̇ e̲̊ ̧̊d̫́ ͎͗ ̲͗m̤̊ ̦̅e̼̔ ͎̒ o u̓͜ ̻̚t ̕͜ i͎͆ s ̞͋n ͚͌ ‘ ̐ͅt ̼̋ ̤̈́i t?”̔ͅ ̬̃**

“Mmhmm. I figure if you could do stuff to the real world from here, then I might be able to too.” 

It took longer for the entity to speak.

**“͉̾I̗͂ ̔͢t̳͗ ̦͛ ̩͊ i̭͋ ̣͑s ͚̿. . ̈ ͡. n o ̱͘ ṱ ̺̓ t̫̊ ̙h ̙͌a̋ͅ ̛͎t͕̒ e ̳͠a͚̔ s͗͢ y.”**

“Maybe you should teach me then.” the ‘air’ shifted beside them again. “Instead of just sitting here and being sad.” They gave a pointed look to the spot beside them that they assumed Gaster was residing in. An audible, albeit echoed and distorted sigh came from said spot. 

**“͟I̳̕ ̤͘s͌͟ ȗ̱ p p̝̆ õ̦ ͔̌ s̰̽ e͔̋ ̣̉ i ̉͢ ̦̒t ͈̽ ̜̍w ̱̆ o̪̔ u̦͛ ͇̅l̹͊ ͇̂ ̘͛d ̭̾ ̨͡b ̣̆ e͚͋ ̱̒ ͍̌ ̟̚p͈͛ ̩͝o͒ͅ ͔̊ ͇̈s ͖͠s ̦̍i͕͞ b͚̓ l ̭͐e ̦̐ ,̹̑ ̞͆ ̤͑ b̖ ͟͠u͓̓ ͓͝t̼͐ ̡̎ t̠͋ h̐͢ ̿͟ ͇͊é̼ ̱͊ ̤͋r̩͒ e ͙̄ ̟͂ ͔̊a ͖̿ ͕ŗ̍ e ̖̽ r̹̈́ ̣̋ ͈̐i ̼͘s͓̍ ͖͆k ̨̕ ̻͌s.̰̚”.**

“Risks were meant to be taken.” the child flashed a smile. Another audible groan.

Over the next few hours the two conversed as Gaster explained the mechanics of the void as simply as possible, deliberately leaving out certain facts he either deemed unnecessary, niche, or dangerous if a child were to grasp a hold of them. 

So far the human had come to understand this- Gaster hated humans (understandably), you had to focus on a part of the void that already existed like the room they were in now in order to connect it to the Underground, and that Gaster trusted them less than he trusted humans in general but really had no desire to simply keep both of them stuck down here if he was only going to end up being bugged for the rest of his nonexistent life. That and… he owed it to try to save the other scientists. A human’s soul, especially a determined one, might be the key to that. 

**“̀͢I͉̐ ḟ͚ ̗́o̰͗ ̮̍ ̘c̚͢ ͗͟u͈̐ ̹͂ s̯̈́ ͔͂ o ̄͜ n ̲̓ ͎̕ ̋͢ t̛̘ h̋͢ i ̹͐ ̦s ̻̒ ̤̃ ̛͈ s̊͟ p ̗͠ã͉ c̳͠ ͙̚ e͔͒ ̭ ̲̉ d u̘͞ ͓̆e ͖̒ ̣͑t o̱͠ ̥̓ ͑ͅ i̤̍ t͍̋ ‘́͟ ͔͆ ̘̍s͇̀ ̼̄ ̼s͌ͅ i ͔̀ ̻̅m ̘̾p ̋͢l i ͙̋c ̦͝i ͓̂t ͒͢y ͔̎ . ̞̂ ͔͐I̹͌ f̝͒ ͉͐ ̡͊ȧ̭ ̱̚n ̮̽y͍͌ ̤͌o ͉͠n̤͘ ̤͘e ̠͝ ͍͡m a ̗͛d̢͋ e͇͡ ͖̿ t ḥ͠ ̝̍ e̡̎ i ͎̾ ̲̕r̢̈́ w a y̤͝ ̾͢ ̠̌ ̳̍i͖͠ ̠͐n̡͝ ̃͢s̜̀ ̮̽ i d͍͒ ̦͋e ̕ͅ ͟͞ ț̿ ͞ͅh̖͝ ͜͠ e ͑͟ ̖́ỷ̙ ͓͊ ͉̆w ̙̅ ̛̮o̟͂ ṵ͐ ͈͛ḻ̒ ̺̆ d ̺͒ ̱b̜͒ eͅ ̞̅ ͈l ĕ̖ s ̦̎ ̣̉s ̡͊ l̢͋ i k e ̖̚l̦̓ y̗̔ t o ͕̏ ͔͠.̛̬ .̯͝ .̯͞ f a̘͊ ̭͆ ͍͞l̳̾ l ̪͆ ͘ͅ.”**

The human didn’t really think he actually hated them much more than any other person, but had just been rotting in the void for so long the only social skills he had left was explaining things and venting passive aggressive frustration.

“I got that part down. What next?”

**“T ͍͊h̬̉ e ̞͐n̤̋ ̖͠ ̆ͅy ͢͡ ̪͛ ̢̈́ȏ̳ ̚͢u ̠̕ .̯͝ . .̺̾ ͚̋ ͉͂w ̹́i ̖ ̠̂l̰̿ l ͖̓ y̹͊ ȯ͜ ̢̅ ̪̿u̘͞ ̭͡r̪ ̙ s ͖̀e ͔̆ ͓̓l ̣̕ ͇͊f̹͋ ̨͡ ̢̕ i ̹̒ n̤̊ t̑͜ ̬͆ ͖̒o ͖͝ e̓͢ ͓͡ x̢͐ ̭͡i ş̅ ̰̕t̫̓ e n c ̪̓ ̖̏e ̢̃ .̪̈ “̪̋**

He had since taken up the incorporeal form again. It still wasn’t touchable, but it had gained more form, the black blob shifting from not only shoulders and arms but gaining attributes that could be implied clothing. The face was more expressive, if only slightly, and seemed to only express annoyance. Gaster didn’t move much in the form but was using it to wave his hands around, partially signing and partially expressing.

Nodding, the child braced themselves as they thought really hard about the room they were in, its FUN value, and Waterfall. They felt their soul and willed it to attach itself to the fake hallway. After a while they realized they were getting nowhere other than looking dumb clenching their eyes tightly shut.

“I… I don’t know how to do that.” They let go of their soul, sighing. “Can you show me?”

**“̦͝. ̺.͈͗ .̭ N̎͢ o .̹”̖̍**

“Why not? I don’t know what it feels like to attach a piece of the void to a real location, it might help.” 

**“ ̧̉.͉̈́ .̱͘ .͇̑ ̖͐ ̛̦i ť̤ ̹̃ ̑͟w ̼́ ̮̐ỏ͚ ̥͘u ͈͒l d ͔̆b ̿ͅe̦͘ ̰̊ ̟̿ h̨̄ ̡̇ã͓ r ͔͑ ̭̏ḏ̽ e̙͡ ͍͑ r ̢̎ ̧͂ ͕̂f o ̩͑r ̯ ̮͗m e ̻̂ ̦̏t̹̐ ̭̾ ͇̉o ̞͐ ̙̇s h̙̔ o̲͐ ̰͞w̿͟ ͖̌ ͇ ̗͗y̳͒ o u ̤͆ ̢t̓͜ ̠͛h̪̕ a ̱͡ n̖̆ ̝͛f̗̿ o̲͊ r ̲̑ ̩͠y ̱͋ o͇͞ ͎͑u ̱̓ ̱̅t ̩̃ǫ̽ ̪̌ ĺ̙ e ̥͗a̫̅ ͎̐r ̪̇ ̧͊n ͐͜ ̭͒ i ̨̒ t ̗̈́ ̗͝ỵ̏ ̹̌ o̩͊ u̢̽ ̢́ ͍̑r͇̅ ̡̂ s̲ ̗͌e ̻͐l f.”͖̽ ̧͊**

“How… hard is it to do?” 

**“̢͞ ͠ͅF ̦͠ỏ̱ ̖͂ ͉͗r̞̊ ͉ ̙̄a ̞́ ̈͟ m ͉̽o ṋ̍ ͈͞s̞͒ ̦͘ t e ̊͜r̤̓ ̝̂ ͚͗,̝̓ ̩̇v̛̫ e̡̅ r ͈̈́ y͑͟ ̧͂ . ̠̏“̪̏**

“Yknow I sort of took you for a boss monster.”

**“͎̿ P ̪͐e ̐ͅr̋͟ h͚̒ ̯̿a ͎̐p ̢̛ s ̥͘ ̺̊ y ͔̐o ̰́ȗ̧ ̰̉ ̙̽ s ̱̎h ̢̎ȍ̜ ̱͌u͚̽ l ̞̕ d̞͋ ̫̀ ͍̓ ̢̎f̻̈́ ̡͠ ȯ͔ c ̥̈́u ̹̅s̽ͅ o n ̗̕ t h͐͢ ͎̏e̖͐ ̺͊ ̝̓ ͈̃ț͛ ͉ a ̩̊ś̘ k̛̭ ̦̆ ȃͅ ͖͑t͓͊ ̑͢h a n̟͡ d.”̪͐**

The child let out a huff before trying to focus again. They willed their soul out of their body and held it carefully, imagining this room connected to Waterfall, or anywhere in the Underground, really. 

Another unsuccessful attempt. 

“Okay so, your cryptic words aren’t really helping. Could I do it easier with the power of my soul?” 

**“̎͜Ŷ̰ ō̧ u ̩͞ ̳̊a ̗̔r e ̪̎ ̭̊ ̔͢ d͓̅ e͔̓ ț͗ ̝̉ë͔ r̟̽ m̳ ̰́i ̈͜n͖͐ e̻̚ ̨͡ ̤͛d̺̐ ͙̂, s͇͛ ͍̆o I ‘̜̂ v̪̋ ̮̑e ̙͐ ̪̕ ̟̚ñ̳ ̕͜ ő̹ ̩̄ ͝ͅd̫͐ ̫͂o̻̔ u͎̇ b t͚̓ ̇ͅ ̻̚y o ̒ͅŭ̪ ͍̃ ̲̒‘̭̉ ͈̊ ͈͡l̮̍ l͇͑ ̥̅ g̠̉ ̲e̲̿ t̹̚ ͚̇i̺̓ ̲͞t ̜̓e̘͡ v͉͛ ͎ẻ̡ n t̥͠ ̌͜u a͈͌ ̙͂ l ̪͒ĺͅ ̟̕y . “̻̂ ͕̒**

They knew they were being unnecessarily pushy about this, he was right- they’d get it eventually. They’d have to, and they both knew they wouldn’t stop until they figured it out and got the ending they were aiming for. That’s what all these resets had been building up to after all. 

“While I figure out how willing us into existence is supposed to feel, why don’t you fill me in on the stuff you did when you were alive?”

The half-blob stiffened, staring at Frisk with an apprehensive annoyed grimace somehow despite the indefinite smile. The child smiled back.

“Like the Core- and the blueprints I kept finding but couldn’t read- all this stuff everyone forgot- it was really annoying having the only piece of the world that was still interesting be something no one could even remember.” 

**“Ĩ͙ .̟̿ ̭̿. . d ͈́o ̲̑ ̺̊ ̞͡n̞̐ ̖͐o ͘ͅ ̪͋t̢̃ ̳̆ ̹̓ ̻͐t h i ̝͊n ̺̋k͉̃ ̟̒ t ̪͘h ͇̽“̇ͅ**

… 

“... Uh, if you’re still talking, I can’t hear it.” 

Without notice the form became the pathetic blob it was as Gaster left it. Great, now he was both quiet and impossible to follow. Figuring he just didn’t like the topic of conversation, the child thought about teasing to break the tension.

“Was it something I s-” they began with a dramatic pout, before being cut off.

**“B̼͚́̀͜͞ ̙̆ ͍̆e͚͖͊͂ ̫͍̈́̍ ̛̖ ̻̚ ̧̦̑͋q ̭͐u͍͚̍̄ ̮̞̎͘ị̽ ̹̻̐͋ē̻ ̟̿̃͟t͈͞ ̗̻̯͂̓͘ ̤̉.̟̀ ”** the echo was sharp even though it sounded like Gaster was attempting to whisper. Still, it was a desperate enough hiss that the human shut their mouth immediately. 

Several quiet minutes passed before Gaster spoke up again. 

**“̜͑Y o̥͑ ̱̚u ̛̪ ̤̿n ̲͡ e ̣͊ẻ̢ ̘͑d̗̒ ̪̔ ͕̋t ̈́ͅ ͚͋o ͉̄g ̭̐ë̺́ ͉̇ț̛ ̪͊ ͖̑ ͓͐ ͔͡õ̠ ̮̐ u ͓̈ ͖͗ t ̝͑.̜̑”**

They couldn’t tell if it was directed at them or whatever had caused this disturbance. The human had taken to tucking themselves in the corner, their soul safe within their chest. Something outside the door… shook? It was hard to explain, but there was a presence nearby.

“What am I supposed to do?!” the child waved an arm. 

**“Y̓ͅ ̡̑o ̡̋u̹̇ ̧̍ ͕͛ n ̖̑e̝͂ e̗͘ ̤̉ d ͇̎ ͕̉ ͔͛t̬͞ ̩͗ o̮̒ ̧̊ ̛̯ ̪͑ ̪c ̗͛ ͎̾o̪̊ n n ̼̒ e͚̾ c t͇͋ ̨ ͔̊t̥͋ ̰̔ ̭h̞̐ ̣̏e͔̔ ͖͐ ̹͋r ̧̂o̫ ó̩ ͙̔m͓͘ ! ̼̀“**

“I can’t yet! I’ve barely started trying!”

**“O̹̚ ͎̚n ̯͒e̱̐ ̾͟ ͉̃ ̜͡ ő̯ ̏͜f ̫̉ ̮̀ ̡̊t ̩̋h e m̡̍ ͉̔s̘͋ ̢̅e͍͡ ̮̀ n ̲̆ ŝ̻ ̬̔e ̞̏d y ̙͐o u̟̔ r ͈̿ s ̌ͅ ͖͞o͂͜ u ļ̊ ̬͋, ̜͡ ̧̀d͈̀ ̳͐o̼̔ ̹͛ ̘y ö̘́ ụ́ ̖͡W̖̄ ̜͑A ͚̕N ̧̽ T t͎̒ ̃ͅ ̟̚o͓͗ ͇l ̞̚o s ̮̉e̼͗ ͖̚ i t ͉̈?”**

“AGH OKAY I’M TRYING!” They grasped their soul and immediately began trying to think REALLY hard about Waterfall and the fake hallway. Was it just about thinking? They tried to feel themself in the room, walking out into the Underground, they tried to manifest it. Was that how it worked? What about the FUN value? The presence grew into static different from Gaster’s and paced outside the door, scratching at it. It seemed as though Gaster had made the door solid to prevent the monster from simply phasing inside like the child had done. 

**“̠̣̂͊G ̻̭̝̽̒̅I ͎̘̉͌̇͢V̢̓ ̱̽ ͔̳̐͜͠͠Ȅ͕̼̋ ̣̀̑͟ ̺͠ ̻͈̓́M̧̥̟͐́̅ ̧̛̣͈̊̄ ̳̎E ͇̅ ̳̇̂ͅ ̬̊ ̜̔T͈͉͌͠ H̛͔͛͜ ͓͋Ä͍͇́͗ ̤̺͋̾T͍̽ ̧̺̭̿̾͋ ,- ͢I̱̍ ̣͈͋̋‘̙̞͒̍ ̡͉̺̎̚͞L̈ͅ ̧̳̂̋L ̯͍̋̓ ̨͎̬̾͗ ̩͋̓͟D̙̾ ̙̏ Ó̲̟̭̆̏ ̢̡̫̔̄̕ ̭̜͈͊̔̏ I ̼̬̍̃ T̢̪̭̑́͞ ̻͖͆͠ ̻̍ ̨̗̂̈́ ̧̯̮̾̂͝M ̪͔̔̒ ͔̹̭̒̍̓ Y̗̚ ̭͡ ̰̘̫̾̿̾S̞̻̪̏̆̇ E̟͞ ̹̼̾͘ ̳̞̼̀̉͛L̟̼̽́ ̗̯̘͐͌͆F̛̠̟̫̃͌”̺͔̿͂**

The scratching grew louder as the child let out a startled sound. Gaster had retaken the form and pulled the determined soul close with blue magic, right out of their grasp. He held it firmly and before the human could further object they saw his form begin to pull together more than they had seen before as the world became grainy, static screeching into the child’s ears as everything went black.

Wiping at their eyes the darkness began to ebb away. They hadn’t passed out, but it had become eerily quiet all of a sudden aside from the ringing in their ears. Gaster- or more so the blob he occasionally controlled- was nowhere to be seen. 

Their soul was floating in the middle of the room, and the child wasted no time in reclaiming it.

“I- I said no using my soul.” they said quietly. 

…

No response.

“Gaster?” 

Looking around frantically they wondered if something had gone horribly wrong. How dangerous could it be for a monster who might not even have a soul to go and use a human’s when it didn’t belong to them? That much power must be risky.

“Gaster!” as blunt as he was, they didn’t want to be left alone. Especially not when they had just discovered something that could stop the endless resets… they slumped against one of the walls, not daring to open the door in case whatever was outside had come with them. They had a hunch it was one of the followers. 

**“ 📬︎ 📬︎ 📬︎”**

Static, nearby. They couldn’t pinpoint where. 

**“✋︎̢͝ ͓̊ ✌︎💣︎̗͝ ͕̍☟︎☜̞̂︎͎͝☼︎☜︎”̼̕ ̠̋** the sound was familiar, but the words weren’t.

“Ah, I uh. I don’t know what you’re saying.”

**“. . .”**

“...”

**“...☞︎🕆︎👍︎😐︎”**

The child brought their knees to them, wrapping their arms around as they lay their head down. 

“At least you’re not dead or something. But whatever that was- don’t do it again.”

No response other than a spike in the pitch of the static. 

“Is this what happens when you do the room thing?” after that another spike. “Wait, wait- make two staticy sounds for yes and one for no.”

Two spikes, and a faint, audible sigh or groan, the child couldn’t be sure. 

“̭̿✡̩̓︎̢̕⚐︎͉͋🕆̭︎̹̈ 👍︎✌͍̑︎☠̫͗︎ ̘̔ ̗͌ ͔̉☹̭̆︎̙͐☜͓̽︎͉✌︎✞︎☜︎̥͆ ̢͝☠︎⚐̱̊︎͙̂🕈̰̂︎̬̆”

“I hope you know all I can hear are weird staticy foreign language sounds.” They waved an arm. The door sat still down the short hall. “I’m just going to check if we’re actually gone.” they got up, earning encouraging(?) static noises in return. The space beside them shifted as Gaster followed close behind. 

They were immediately met with vibrant b- gray. It was most certainly Waterfall, but it was gray. 

“Is this… Waterfall?” 

Two static noises. 

“Is it supposed to look like this?” 

Two more spikes in the static. 

“Oh. When did the void start making everyone colorblind?” 

This was followed by a singular spike.

**“❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎ ✋︎💧︎ 👌︎☜︎👍︎✌︎🕆︎💧︎☜︎ W☜︎ A☼︎☜︎ 💧︎❄︎✋︎☹︎☹︎ 👍︎⚐︎☠︎N☜︎C❄︎E👎︎ ❄︎O THE VO👎︎D.”**

“The V… Void? Something about that. Makes sense. But we’re really here?” 

**“✡︎☜︎💧︎📬︎ 👌︎🕆︎❄︎ ✋︎📫︎ ✋︎ 👍︎✌︎☠︎☠︎⚐︎❄︎📬︎ I CANNOT ☹︎☜︎✌︎✞︎☜︎. I ̭͠C͛ͅA͎͆N̮̚NOT HO͔͐L̥͌D ̞͘T̥̔HIS͚͡ ̺͒L̦͒OC̘͐Á͓TI̘̊O̱͑N FO̡͐R͂ͅ ̜̏LO̹͘N͢͞G͇͞.̯̋” ̘̀**

“Then we need to get out of here while we still can-” the child almost rushed into the hallway, the prospect of a finalized pacifist running almost within their grasp, scared to let it go. “Ah. Wait… you’re coming right?” 

No response, the human paused halfway out the door. 

“No… something’s not right here. It can’t be this easy.” regrettably, they took a step back inside. “Aren’t you coming?”

**“Ḯ͎ ̱̇ ̻̾C A ̭̍N N̖̊ ̡̾O❄︎ ̊͜ ̪͝L ͉͞☜︎ ̺̓A ̙͒ V ☜︎ ͔͠.̞̕ ̗͊ W ͎͌I ̝͆❄︎ ☟︎ ̢͗O̤͆ U ̮̈ T ̦̎ ̟̓ a͔̽ ͖̓ v ͙̽ ̖e s ̢͠ ̪̓s e̞̎ ̞͐ l̥͡ ̫̓.” ̤̊**

  
  


“O-Oh. Uh. Hey, you can talk again! Um, can’t you… make the blob thing?” 

**“͓̓I t ̘ ̤͞ ̼̆r͚͐ ͖̎ ͓͋e ͚͂q̜̈́ ̲̎u ̠͌i r ̧͠ e̲͆ s͉͊ ͈͗ ̺͑a ͟ ̲͆l̲̄ ̢̐o t ̭̍ o ͕̈́ f̗̏ ̧͞ ̭̈́ ̝̑ e ̗̌n ̰̔ e r ̮̍g y , ͙̄ ͕e͍͊ n̛̙ ̔͜ẻ̤ ̺̆r ̪͞ ̝̏g͈͘ y ̨͌ ̬̑I ̫͌ ̱a͚͒ ̖̄ ͚̾m̩̍ ̝͌ ̻̓ ̡͆u̜̇ ̮̍ ̜̇s ̭͗i̼͘ ̱n ͍̑g ̒͢m͈͂ a͎͌ ̯̎i ̜̉n ̗̑ţ͞ ̌͟a̭͝ ͔̀i ̫̈n ̟̎i ̫͐n ́͢g̲̊ t̪̂ h ̟̓ ͕̌e̟̾ ̟̓ ̺͋ ̽ͅc o̳ ͊͜n͙̋ n ͟͡e ̲͡c ̲̆t ̪̿ ̯̃i ̞̾o n͈̉ ̣̆. ̬͠Y o u ̼͊ ͖͞s ̄ͅh ̍͢ȏ͇ ̜̿u l͚͐ ̦̎d̹̈́ ͕̕ g̝̾ ̜͒ ͈̈́ơ̠ . ̨͌ ͖̒“**

“Okay look- I know you’re not the best person- monster- but I’m not just…” they looked outside at Waterfall, trying to weigh their options. 

They had been through countless resets and their end goal was to achieve the perfect ending. They could do that right now. But would it be the proper ending if they left someone to rot in nonexisence? The child had lost much capacity for empathy, but they didn’t feel right walking off and leaving an adventure behind with its final hope lost forever. And at the end of the day, what had happened so far had been more than the human could ask for. 

No… If this was their final pacifist run, they were going to do it the right way.

“No. I’m not leaving. You’re able to talk and hold this connection- you’ve never been able to do that before right? I’ve never been able to talk to you before I fell into the void.”

There wasn’t an immediate answer, whether because Gaster had no response or because it was hard to talk while keeping the room connected. Either way they continued. 

“So my soul had something to do with it. It helped. You had to use my determination to save us and as much as I hate my soul being affected in any way, it wasn’t like I was hurt by it or anything.” they turned to the spot behind them where they assumed Gaster was. If he wasn’t it would be a little awkward, but that was besides the point.

“And after all this time you have a way to escape.” the child held their soul in front of them, the red illuminating their gray form. “Yet you’re just trying to drop me off. You’re a scientist, right?! The key to getting out is right here- experiment.” Perhaps they should’ve felt a bit more protective of their soul, but they had a complicated relationship with mortality and self-preservation. 

Their dislike of their soul being tossed around and used was an attachment from the many genocides they had caused, having never liked the feeling of Muffet restraining their movement or Sans tossing them from wall to wall very much. 

But this was different. It was annoying, and they didn’t like it, but Gaster was a very interesting character and despite his situation, was at least mostly morally good. Someone worth saving- someone who needed ‘SAVEing’. 

“Just. Use it. Take a little determination. Haunt my soul. Whatever you gotta do.”

**“N͇̽ ̬̌ö̞ ̊͜ ,͎͞ ̱̃ ̝̃t͖̾ ̼͑ h e͈̓ r ̫̏ e ̞ȉ̺ ̉ͅs ̬̒ ̟̄ ̗͗t̲͑ ̦̐o ̤̄ ̥͌o ̳͗ ͍̈́ ̫̑ ̯͋m͙̓ ͙̌ u̲͆ ̣c̃ͅ ̬̌h͎͂ ̞̒ ͓͛ r͕̾ ̂ͅ ͈̾ḭ͋ ̹͗ s͎̓ ̺͞ ǩ͇ ̼̒ -̧͛ ̪͞“͖͗**

“Same goes for when you built the Core right? But it worked. If this doesn’t work, then that’s okay. That’s the end. Maybe it’ll kill me and everyone will forget I exist too but after a few years of living the same eight hours over and over again I’m kind of okay with whatever happens.”

**“͖͞T h ̜̋a ̼̚t̹͗ ̥̕ ̪ ̲̓ ẘ̞ ͟͝ a s . . .̟̔ ̯̔ ͇̎a ͉̚ t̜͊ e ̕͟r ̥̇r̠̆ ͕i̘̕ ̘͊ b̲̚ l͍̒ ̰̃ ̘̕e ͕̓ ̝̅a̮̚ ̮̑ṟ̕ ͈͠g ̳͠u͉͐ ͟͡m ̯͐e͍͊ ͇͘n ͔̅t̫̆.͖̀”̨͑**

"I'm not the best with 'don't give up' speeches anymore... just- it's not a true pacifist if I let all of you rot here. And you're the only one who can help me SAVE them." they held out their soul to... the air in front of them.

"Just try it. If I almost die or something you can stop I guess."

Their soul floated for a moment before flickering blue, glitching, but staying.

**"̻̀T ̯͆h ̨͘ỉ̠ s͙̔ i̭̾ ̆͟ ͑ͅs ̙͝ a ͈̀ ̧̏ ̨͞t ̝͆ e ̢̏r̼̂ ̻͆r͚͋ ̏͟i̡̇ b̤ ͉̍l e i̘̓ d͕ e a ͉̎. ̖͞ ̤̈Y̞̍ ȍ͜ u ̰̽'̦̚ ̛̳r ͔̕ ̛̭e ̞͊ ̘̒o b ̡̉ v͕̎ i o ͈͑u̦͑ s ̲̾ ̥́ļ͒ ̯͋y ͓̈ u s i n̗̽ ̳͋ĝ͓ ̙̎ t ̯̋h e o ͗ͅ t̙͡ ̗̆h͚̍ e ͈͛r̡̿ ͍̂ s ̤͘ ̥ ̥̊a̯͐ g͓͞ á̜ i̓͟ n͎̈́ ŝ͚ ̣̈t ͔͗m̨̓ ͍͛e ͖͑ ̠ h̞̚ e r̨͐ e ̽͢.͎̄ "͍̅**

"Kids are good at getting what they want." The human smiled.

Flickering between blue and red, Gaster began to materialize in front of the soul, utilizing its extra determination to give himself enough form to work with. He paused for a few moments before continuing.

**"I̮͠ ̬̈́ ͔̃w ̥̊ i ͊ͅ l͕̍ ̬l ̣̇ ͊͜ ̢͒ ̦͑t̩̔ ̠̿ r ̳͌y ̭̄ ͍̿ t o ̦͒ ̜̋u ̹̃s̟͒ ̼̊ ̤̆ e̛̳ ͓͞ ̤̿ a n y ͔̚ ̫̆ļ̇ ̻̚e ͐ͅf̢̎ ̡͆t̹̓ o v̫͡ e̝͡ ̯̂r ̞̍ ̼̎ d ̮̂e t ̤́e̗̚ ̹͡ṙ̻ ̩̊m͙̂ ͖̊i ̮̕n ͓̊a ̢̅t ì̫ o̱͝ ̪̍n ̣̽ ẗ̜ ͇̀ĥ̙ a t ͉͡ ̗͐ ̛̯ w͍̕ o̞̎ ͙̓ŭ͔ ̧͞l̛̲ d ͓̅ ̤́h a v e̟͑ ̪͗ b ̌͜e e ̼̇n ͖̆ u̦͒ s͐ͅ e͇͋ ̱͂d ͖̋ ͔͂ ̥̿ ̛͉ ỏ̲ ͈͑ ̖̇n ̘̉ ̗̌ ̻̎ ̱͋ ̥̚ s ͉̌a v ẻ̦ ̪̈ ̹̏s̗̔ ̝̾t͎͆ ̰́a ̧̓r s , ̻̎ ͇̄ b̩̈́ u̙̍ ̫̅ ̘̎t Ị͠ ̜͒ w̟̋ ͎̌ ̰͝i̒͜ ̬͘ĺ͢ ͉͌l̥͑ ̥̂ ͓̋ l͈͊ ̛̗i̼̍ ͎̀k̉͟ ͙̎ė̠ ̦̈l ̞̄y e̗̾ n̼̏ ͈̄ d͌͢ ̬̓ u ̧͝p͟͡ ̖͛ s͉̏ ̨̓i͖͗ ̡̇ ͉̐p h̪̃ o͚͛ n ̖͂i n g̦̽ ̬̔s͈̓ ͍̏o ̦͑m͙̿ e͓͋ ̩͒ ̕͜d̗͑ ̄͢i ͊͜r͔̈́ ̦e c ̒͟t̞͆ l y f͎͒ r ỏ̮ m͓͠ ͉̈́ ͛͢y̍͜ ̟̑ o u ̦̓ ̛̙r s o̼̓ u ̥̿l.̩"**

Intrigued (and happy he was actually going to do this), the child stared at their soul in awe, flinching every time they felt the tug of the blue magic struggling to maintain balance on the soul.

Gaster was a bit thankful they hadn’t asked _how_ he could even do this in the first place.

"Alright. So you have a form, kind of, what else do you have to do to... keep it?"

The blob, now with arms again and the slightly expressive annoyed face, glanced down at the child before focusing on their soul again."

**"̬̆F ̫̑ő͜ r ṣ̍ ̩͗t ͉̽ a̲̚ r ̪́ t͈̋ ̢͐e ŕ̡ s̀͜ ̧͛ ̬̕,̲͛ ̩̒ I ̰̊ ͚̚ ̲̿n ̟̇ e͉͛ e ͎̕d̲̃ ̖̍ t o̊͟ ͗͟.̻̊ .̳̎ ̥̔ . ̟̓a c͈̏ ̖̓t̳͒ u ͚̈a ̤͑l ̔͟l͙͂ ̜y ̦̂ e̙͂ x ͛͟ḭ̉ ̀͟ s t̑͟ ̄ͅ. ͗͢ B͓̌ ̨̚e ̤̋c͉ o ̄͢ ̡̕ṁ̳ e̠̚ ͖̓ ̧̅ c o ̫̽r ̩͝p o̲͋ ̖̾r̬̿ ͍͋e a͕̎ ̝̑l͖̚ ̣̓ ̖̃.̓͜ ͑ͅ ͎͊T o̥͞ ͚̏m ͓a k e̹͘ ̙͡ ͈͂m ̝̂y̿͟ ͉̄s̢̅ ̣͝ė̝ ̝͌l̙̾ ͔̉ f ̞ ̮͆ a̤̋ ̤̅ ̗̈s ̟͞ ̰̕ǫ̉ u ͚̎l̗͘ ̪͘."**

"You don't... have a soul?"

**"I ̜͡ ̯͋ ̟̑d ͉͞o n̤̔ ͇̇ ̰o̟̒ t ͟ ̬̽ ̠̏e͔ ̥̈́ x̜̆ i s ̱͐t̩ .̨̍ ̤̾ ̗̍ S̭͒ o̩͛ ̰̕n̟ ̮̌ õ̥ ͍̃. ̱N̳̋ ̯̏ ơ͟ ͔t͑͜ a̬̔ ̲͠ n͎̓ ỳ̻ ̦̌ m o r ̣̎e̺̍ ͎. ̰̾ ͙"͕́**

"Oh" the child seemed content with the answer, even if it brought more questions. As they looked at their soul and the forming... form, of Gaster, they began to notice him trembling, if only slightly.

Anxiety? A side effect? They weren't sure. But they made conversation anyways, just to distract him from it if it were the former.

"So what was your soul like?"

**"̧̌I ̨͆t ̃͢ ̫̇ ̬͌w͉̍ a̮̅ s͕̉ .̯̐ ͎̎.͚̃ ̧͒ . a̮͛ ͖̐ s͕̚ ̡͋ ̣͛o̼͆ ṷ̓ ͓̋l͉͑ ͔͒."̗͡**

"I meant were you a boss monster?"

**"̭̏T̩̑ ̩͠h ̜͝ i̇͜ ̣̃ ͎͘s ̝̑ ̹̾ ͔i ̄͟s̼̍ ͕͋ t ͓̕h̭̍ ̮̉ e͔̅ ̰̒ ̰̂ s̠̈́ e ͎͌c͙̓ ̼̅o ͇̆n͉͋ ̼̐d̩̽ ̨͑ ̼̔t ̝̾i m e ̻̑ ̛͚y o ̹͐u ̺̇ ̯' ̬͆ v͎̑ ͙͞ē͖ ͉̋ ̓͜ a͙͞ s k ̲̌ ̧̓e ̜̕d̩̚ ̪̎ ͙͂m ̾ͅe͎͝ t ḫ͗ ̦͘a t.̠̐"**

"I know! But I've only ever seen three, and one's a flower."

**"͙͡.͋͟ ̲.̪̓ .̰̓ y e s . W̧͌ ̨͋a s. ̕͢ ̈́͜I a̙͝ m̫̐ n̐͜ ̹̔o t ̨̓ ̨͘m ̫a̞̾ ̅͟ k̞̊ ̗̂i̪͘ ͔͂n g ͕̕a ̞̔ b ̖͋o s s̛̺ ̰̽ m̲̔ o n ̜̚s̥̋ ̪͛t̻͛ ̞̑e̞̎ ŗ͊ ̲͝s̪̒ o ̻͠ü͍ l̢͡ ͚̇ n o̥͗ w̳̍.͈̍”͉̌**

The child nodded, then felt a cold chill and shuddered. 

**“I ͓̃ ̤ ̥̍ḧ̪ a ̜̽ ̣̈v̼̈ ̧̅ ̛̯e̼͒ ̦̒ ͚̌ . ̢͘. ̼̓ ͎͊. ̦͛ ̼͂ ̻͋u ̆͜ s̥̈ ̮̓ e͐͜ ͔̄ ̨̆d̢ a ͖̈́ l ̫̀ ̻͐l ̘̉ ̟̊o̖̽ ̉͟ f ́͢ t ̏͜h ̤͞ e͖͞ ̿͟ ̧̇ ë̥ ̰͌ ͇x t r a ̺͗ d ẻ̬ t e ̥͞ ̰͑r͉͡ ̧͘m̖͞ ̲͊i ̾ͅn a ̱̈t ̫̇i̹͌ o͚͛ ͔̒n̢͆ . ̝̃ ̺͠A ͔͗ r͓̋ e ̤̄ y̯̔ o ̰͝u̮͠ ̛̱ ͕̓ ̼͘ ̠̀ ̝͠s̜ u ̨̃r e ̨́ ̼͒ ̺̈y͚͛ ̥̎ỏ̡ ̒͜u͕͡ ẃ͜ a ͉͝n t t̜ ̼͘o r i͎̓ ̤̔s ̯̿k ͉̂ ̬͛y̒͜ o̼̐ ̡͝ų͐ ̦̎ ͇̂r̦͋ ͖͋ ̭͑o ̱̽w n ̢̈́s ̱͒ ̭͝o ̗͆ư̡ l ̜͘ ?”̠̆ ̢**

It didn’t take much hesitation for the human to nod. “I’ve been through… a lot. Whatever happens I can handle it!” they sounded awfully enthusiastic for a child. “Seriously though, just do it. As long as I don’t die I’ll be fine, we’ll just go find magic food afterwards and I’ll heal up with that!” 

While the regenerative properties of food were certainly outstanding at times, it didn’t stop Gaster from (somehow) frowning at the child’s lack of self preservation. He continued siphoning energy from their soul though. 

The chill turned into a buzzing down the child’s spine. “Ew, that feels weird.”

**“̯̅I̬̊ ̟̂t̼̀ ̲͠ ͇͌s̟͌ ̼̚h̬͡ ̅ͅo ̟̆u l ̻̋d ̞͝ . ̰̀ I ̧̍ ͛ͅå̧ m t̨̛ ͕̿ă̬ k î̬ n ̮̀g ͚ ḏ̆ ̺͌e̯̓ ̥̎t̜̊ ̘̒e̛͉ r̞ ͉͑m ̲̐i n a t i o̪͛ ̩n ̨͗ ̇͟,͓̕ ̢̐ n ̪̾o t ͎͝ ̥̊l̠͋ i̺̍ f͚ ͓͂ e͓̓ ̥̃f̳̒ ̱̔ô̖ ̓ͅ ̢̐r͎̉ ͚͆ c ͉̐e.” ̭͂**

“It’s just weird though… will I have enough left over to come back when I die?”

**“͔͛T ̻͋r̭̿ ̫̊ ͇̿y̹̕ ̰͝ ̯̅ ͎̀N̨̈ Ơ͟ T ̨̓ t̪̓ ǒ͜ d ̝i͎ e ̤̓ ,͍̃ ̛͍ ̘̑ p͇͞ l̘̊ ͆͜e͚̿ ȃ̹ s ̬̐ ̖̒e .̪͂ Y ̠̀o ͖͑u̫͑ r ̹͝ ̤͡ ̫̈́r e͔̊ g ȇ̳ ̼̒ ̪̏ņ̓ ͇̑e r ̮̍a t͌͢ ̪̎í̮ ̥̏o ̞͛n̙͌ ͐͢ ̟͒w̘͛ ̲͝a͕͑ ̰͠s ͍ ̥͐ ͐͜l ͜͡i n̲͘ k ̠̽ ͚͆e ̳͛ ͈͛d͎͊ ̺͛ ̘͊ ̙̃t ̯̀o͍͛ ̥̄ s a͎̍ v ̄͢ ̟̐ě̱ ͎̆ ̘͑ ̺͂ ̢̇S ͍͊t ȁ̮ r̨͋ ̻s.͒ͅ”͉͠ ̥̅**

The human leaned against the wall, wiping at their forehead. Sweat? And a chill. Not too bad. They were just going to sit down for a minute though. They felt a bit dizzy. 

As Gaster siphoned more the outline of a soul began to manifest. The soul itself began to lose color, which the child only noted by the dimming of the red light as it glowed on them. 

It was like having a heat flash, lights that weren’t there spun in both their and Gaster’s eyes as the latter tried to maintain focus. On the child’s end, they knew they wouldn’t be able to stand if they tried, laying their head into their knees as their soul was messed with. They hated their soul being messed with. They’d also feared that sucking the determination out might kill their motivation, but they didn’t feel like a stick in the mud yet so they were betting otherwise. Shaking, they felt tired. They began to close their eyes to ignore the lights…

**“D o n e.”**

“O- Oh? Uh,” the child startled before shaking their head of the dizziness fogging them. They slowly began to push themself to their feet before they felt one of their arms hoisted up in an attempt to help. “Oh hey… you can talk better,” their voice was thick with fatigue, but it didn’t mask their excitement, “and you can actually touch things now!” 

They squinted at the ‘soul’ he’d created. It was… just an outline of a heart. 

“Where’s there rest of the soul?” they inquired. Gaster sighed, still rather blob-like but with at least enough form to be recognizeable as somewhat skeletal. 

**“D e t e r m i n a t i o n i s l i k e . . . g l u e . I r e a l i z e d i f I t o o k t o o m u c h a w a y , y o u r s o u l w o u l d l o s e t h e v e r y t h i n g h o l d i n g i t t o g e t h e r.”**

“Oooh so I could’ve died.” they stated rather matter of fact as they struggled to stay on their feet, concerning the former royal scientist with more of their aloof nature on permanent death. “I’m.. tired.” They said as they sloppily opened the door to Waterfall. Still gray. 

They walked out into the hall, shaking their head of more of the exhaustion. Checking their soul, they felt its HP dwindling, hovering at less than half of what it was before. 

Gaster hovered just before the hallway. 

“You’ve got to be coming this time, right?” the child teased, touching the rocky wall and relishing in actually having a sense of touch again. 

**“O f c o u r s e, I j u s t. . .”** before he could finish his sentence the child had grabbed one of their skeletal hands and pulled him out the door, his form not quite walking or slithering as he was yanked along. 

“I did say we’d go get magic food after that didn’t I?” 

**“Y… Y e s, y o u d i d.”** he was listening, but he was more so focused on the fact that he was in the hallway. He was IN Waterfall. Looking back the door had vanished. He was free. He didn’t even have to keep the room connected… In the span of a few hours this child had fell into the void and saved the both of them. 

Something in him wanted to snap and cry, but he didn’t even know if he had the capacity to cry anymore and by the time he got to thinking about it the human had begun to pull on his hand again, taking him down the hallway. 

“I’ve been sneaky this time around, so no one really knows I’m here, so we’ll have to backtrack to Snowdin to get Undyne’s attention later. But for now we- more so you- can just… exist!” all the weariness had seemed to vanish from the child. 

He could exist now.

He existed.

He had a soul, albeit a pathetic one. 

Just outside the fake hallway (looking back revealed it had vanished) the slightly goopy monster fell to the ground. His form shook and he was silent. Well he had been right- he couldn’t cry. His indefinite smile was bittersweet as he touched the ground, not used to being able to feel, having adjusted to not feeling for so, so many years. 

The human was worried at first when he fell, then realized the gravity of what he must be feeling. They sat down quietly. The two simply existed for a while, one amazed and even skeptical that it was true- it must be his imagination- the other thankful they’d managed to do this but worried about what might happen to him if their soul tried to reset after the run.

Instead of voicing this worry, they leaned into an echo flower beside them.

“Welcome to the Underground, Gaster.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fist walked over to the old bone man.  
> “Hey Glizzy G!”  
> “‘Sup bitch!” Glizzy replied with his cool 2020 sunglasses.  
> [do not mind this someone wrote this and it's been sitting at the bottom of the doc for this fic since]
> 
> Anyways I hope the ending wasn't too rushed and you enjoyed the fic!! off to make my Gaster cosplay- also hope Gaster's lines weren't too annoying to read, although tbf I guess they would be hard to listen to too.
> 
> Also let me know if anything looked wrong! One of my words went from NO to 1. and I- yeah.


End file.
